Find You
by weethreequarter
Summary: Third in the series, follows With You. When Stella doesn't come home, can Mac hold together his family and find her at the same time? Mac/Stella
1. Where are You?

**Part three of the series is finally here! Sorry for taking so long, but real life went a little mad. Anyway, here it is. I hope you like it. Special shout out to lilymoonlight for reading this & giving me lovely feedback.**

 **Christina x**

 **XOXOXOX**

Mac stared at the board in his office, a small frown furrowing his forehead, concentrating hard. This case, like every other, was a puzzle. And he simply had to rearrange the pieces to solve the puzzle. Unfortunately the pieces in this puzzle did not want to be rearranged. Cameron Shell had left home two days prior, telling his wife he was going to the gym, and had not been seem since.

The door of his office banged open as Danny strode in.

"Mac, we got a hit on Cameron's credit card," he said. "A bar in the Bronx."

Mac grabbed his coat.

"Let's go."

Despite only being three in the afternoon, the party was in full swing in The Phoenix. Mac and Danny negotiated their way through the crowd towards the bar, hoping the bartender could point them in the right direction. As Danny shouted over the music to the bartender, Mac scanned the room, glancing at the picture of Cameron Shell his wife had provided. He frowned in the direction of the bachelor party in the corner, tapping Danny's elbow to get his attention.

"Cameron Shell?" Mac called.

"Yo!" Cameron replied, looking round, grinning wildly.

"NYPD, get up," Danny snapped. Being in a loud club in the middle of the day chasing a clearly not in danger and well inebriated missing person made him irritable.

"Wow, what's this about?" Cameron asked.

"Your wife reported you missing," Mac explained. "You told her you were going to the gym two days ago then never came back."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't sure if I was gonna come along or not," Cameron shrugged. "It was a last minute thing."

"Wait so, you knew you were coming to a bachelor party, but you told your wife you were going to the gym?" Danny asked, certain he'd misunderstood. Cameron grinned.

"Yeah."

"Mac, can we arrest him? Seriously?" Danny pleaded. Mac gave him an understanding look. Danny shook his head.

"You should call your wife, let her know you're okay," Mac said.

"No way. I'll see her tomorrow. What's one more day?" Cameron replied.

"So what exactly do we tell Mrs Shell?" Danny asked as they returned to the car. Mac exhaled slowly. Two days wasted.

"The truth," he replied eventually. "That her husband is fine, and he'll be home tomorrow."

"You sure we can't arrest him for wasting police time? Or for being a shit husband?"

"It's not a crime."

"Should be," Danny muttered. "We're gonna be hitting rush hour traffic soon. Tell you what, you go back to the lab, I'll take the subway. I'll call Linds, get her to pick me up on the way home."

"You sure?" Mac asked.

"Yeah. No point in us both sitting in traffic for hours. I'll talk to you later."

XOXOXOX

Mac was working on his report when Danny called.

"Hey Mac, I spoke to Alice Shell," he said. "I felt pretty bad. She's a nice lady. Doesn't deserve an idiot like that as a husband."

"You didn't say anything did you?"

"No, but I wanted to. Would it be wrong if anonymously sent her a note telling her where her husband really was?"

"Yes," Mac smiled. "Even though your heart's in the right place. Lindsay on her way?"

"Nah, traffic's crazy. Told her I'd get the subway. See you tomorrow Mac."

"Bye Danny."

He hung up, continuing to fine tune his report. Twenty minutes later, he was preparing to submit it when the phone rang again.

"Taylor."

"Detective Taylor, this is Karen Davis from Los Ninos. I was just wondering who was picking Mackenzie up today?"

"Her mother." Mac frowned, glancing at the clock. "Isn't she there yet?"

"No. And we can't get through to her phone either." She hesitated. "Mackenzie's getting a little worried, do you think you could...?"

"I'm on my way."

In the car Mac tried to call Stella, but as Karen Davis said, there was no answer. If he'd been worried before, he definitely was now. The thought of Stella not turning up for her daughter was unthinkable, but especially since Kenzie's kidnapping nearly a year ago. There was no way she wouldn't be there for Kenzie; unless she couldn't. He turned on the radio, both the police scanner and a city commercial station, hoping for some indication if Stella'd been involved in a car accident. But both were focused on an accident at a building site, something involving the subway from what he heard.

Arriving at the daycare centre, Mac ran up the front steps. Kenzie was sitting by the door wearing her backpack, looking worried.

"Hey Kenz," he said.

"Daddy!" She threw her arms around his neck.

"Hey, it's okay," he soothed, rubbing her back.

"Where's mom?"

"She had to stay late at work, so you're coming home with me," he lied.

XOXOXOX

"Come on Kenzie, time for bed," Mac said, trying to keep his worry for Stella out of his voice. His daughter was curled up on the couch watching cartoons, her arms wrapped around her favourite soft toy. Her eyebrows met in a frown, her lower lip stuck out.

"No," she pouted.

"Kenzie..."

"I want mommy."

"Mommy has to work. But you'll see her tomorrow," Mac replied, crouching down in front of her. Kenzie shook her head, leaning back into the leather of the couch.

"No!" she retorted. "Now!"

"You can't see her now Kenzie. Tomorrow. Come on, bed."

"No!" Kenzie shouted. Tears bubbled in her eyes.

Mac's cell phone burst into life on the table before he could reply. He shot to his feet, wincing at the strain in his knees, grabbing it, hoping beyond hope that it was Stella on the line.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mac, I checked out Stella's apartment, but I don't think she's been back since going to work this morning," Flack said. "I swung by NYU, and they said she left on time. But there was no sign of her car in the parking lot. Any answer on her phone yet?"

"No," Mac replied, glancing towards Kenzie. "I'm really worried."

"Me too. Look Mac, I gotta go. City's gone crazy with that subway collapse."

"Okay. See you later Don."

Mac tried checking the news for any accidents he hadn't heard of through work, but it was preoccupied with the collapse of a subway tunnel. Normally Mac would've been straight down there to help. But today, he was far too worried about Stella. Where was she?


	2. Falling Down

"What the _hell_?" Stella exclaimed before another bought of coughing was brought on by all the dust flying around. Around her she could hear murmurs from the other passengers that were growing by the second. "Okay everyone stay calm," she shouted. "NYPD. Sort of," she added under her breath.

"Mom! Mom wake up!" a little boy's voice echoed from the end of the carriage. Stella clambered through the rubble that had fallen through one of the holes in the roof of the carriage.

"You okay there sweetie?" she asked. The little boy looked a few years older than Kenzie. Leaning over him, Stella checked his mother using her cell phone as a torch, illuminating a trickle of blood form the woman's forehead. "Is there a doctor or a nurse here?"

"Yeah," a male voice replied. Through the darkness she saw a figure moving towards them. When it reached them, the light from her cell phone briefly illuminated his face before he crouched down over the woman.

"Sweetie can you step back, let the doctor see your mom?" Stella asked the boy. "What's your name?"

"Tyler."

"Hi Tyler, I'm Stella."

"What's going on?" he asked climbing into her lap. Stella held him gladly, seeking as much comfort from the contact as he did.

"I don't know Tyler," she replied, glancing around the dark subway carriage. "I don't know."

XOXOXOX

"You have got to be kidding me," Danny groaned. "This cannot be happening."

Not that he knew exactly was happening. One minute they'd been rattling along, then suddenly there was a bang, a screech on the rails, then the lights were gone, and dust was flying everywhere. Pulling his torch from his belt, Danny flicked it on. The carriage was practically empty; apart from Danny there were only three other passengers. There was also a gaping hole in the roof of the back end of the carriage.

"Anybody hurt?" he called. The other passengers murmured negatively. "Okay," he said to himself. "Let's see what's going on."

He moved through to the middle carriage, which was much more crowded than the previous one.

"NYPD, everyone okay?"

Stella looked up sharply towards the torch and the familiar voice.

"Danny?"

"Stell? You okay?"

"I'm fine, you?"

"Yeah, I'm just peachy," he replied, making his way to her. "I'm going to try and get to the driver, find out what the hell's going on and why the roof's falling in on us."

"Be careful," she said as he slipped through the door to the front carriage.

"Friend of yours?" the doctor asked.

"We used to work together," she explained. "I'm Stella."

"Rick."

"She going to be okay Rick?" Stella indicated to his patient, Tyler's mom.

"Yeah, she's coming round now. Head wound's not too deep. Hopefully she'll be fine," he said. He nodded towards Tyler, snuggled against Stella. "You're pretty good with kids."

"I should be. I have a four year old at home. Oh my God," she realised. "Kenzie. I was on my way to pick her up."

"Is there anyone else who'll look after her?" Rick asked.

"Yeah. Yeah her dad'll look after her. What about you? Do you have anyone?"

"I have a fourteen year old son who lives with his mum in Queens," he replied. "We're divorced. You?"

"I have a boyfriend. Kenzie's dad. He's my best friend."

Rick watched as her face became melancholy, her hand caressing Tyler's shoulder.

"You love him?" he asked softly.

"For fifteen years," she smiled ruefully.

XOXOXOX

As soon as he entered the front carriage, Danny knew it had taken the worst beating. The roof was virtually gone, and there was rubble and dirt everywhere.

"Anybody there?" he called. No reply. He had a feeling no one in here was alive. Sure enough, as he swung the beam of his torch around, it fell on nine, no ten, bodies. Danny checked each one, but there were no pulses. Edging his way through the carriage, he looked up through where the roof was supposed to be, but all that he could see above him was darkness. The door to the driver's compartment was jammed shut, but no reply came when he banged on the door and yelled. He had a feeling the driver, like the front carriage passengers, had died in the whatever this was.

"Anything?" Stella asked when he returned. Danny shook his head, and Stella realised what he meant. She pulled out her cell phone again. "No signal," she said.

"Yeah me neither," he replied. She looked over at Tyler, who was now sitting on his mother's knee. Danny sat down next to her, following her gaze.

"We're gonna get out of here, you know that right?" he said quietly. She tried to give him a smile. "There's no way Mac's going to let anything happen to you. He loves you and Kenzie way too much."

XOXOXOX

Mac had just put Kenzie to bed for the second time when his phone rang. Snatching it off the table he answered, "Stella?"

"No, sorry Mac, it's Lindsay."

"Lindsay, you okay?"

"Not really. Danny hasn't come home. I haven't heard from him since the call saying he was taking the subway back... Mac I think he was on the subway car that was in the collapse."


	3. Turn For the Worst

When Mac woke up the next morning, Kenzie was curled up next to him. Sometime during the few hours he'd actually slept she must've snuck in beside him. Picking her up as she slept, he carried her through to the living room. Sitting on the couch, he tried calling Stella's cell phone again, but it went straight to voicemail. He threw her phone down onto the table and wrapped his arms around his daughter, breathing in the smell of her shampoo and Stella's laundry detergent, and fought to stop himself from crying.

Kenzie didn't want to go to daycare. In fact, all she wanted to do was see Stella and Mac was quickly running out of excuses for why Stella wasn't there.

"No!" she pouted furiously.

"Kenzie. You have to go to daycare," he said patiently.

"No!" she retorted. "Want mommy!"

"I know Kenzie. You'll see her later."

"No!" she cried. Tears bubbled in her eyes, her arms crossed as she glowered at him. Mac decided to try another tack. He retrieved Kenzie's sneakers from under the coffee table where they'd been abandoned the night before and knelt down to slide them onto her feet. However, as soon as he tried, Kenzie kicked her feet away from him, crying out, "No, don't!"

"Mackenzie Bonasera!" Mac snapped before he could help himself. Then he bit his lip, pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the tears which threatened to overwhelm him. No. He was not going to be one of those parents, who shouted at their children simply for being children. After all, kids were miniature humans. It was only natural for them to feel the same emotions as adults did, no matter how frustrating it became. No, he refused to take his fear and his frustration out on his daughter.

In the end, he decided to take her to the lab with him. His main priority was Stella after all. Until he found her, any other cases could wait. Besides, Kenzie had clearly struggled to sleep the night before as much as he had. In all probability she would fall asleep on the couch in his office. And he really didn't feel like fighting his way through all the traffic and diversions caused by the subway collapse.

"Hey, how's she doing?" Jo asked quietly as she entered his office.

"She wants her mom," Mac replied.

"Poor thing. No word from Stella?"

He shook his head.

"She's not at home. She left work at her usual time. Her car's not at the NYU lot. She's just disappeared."

"She'll turn up," she said, squeezing his hand gently. "Hawkes and I are heading down to the subway collapse to help. I'll see you later."

"Let me know if you find Danny."

XOXOXOX

Stella leaned back in the subway seat. She was starving. At least she still had some water left from work. But she couldn't help the nagging worry that no matter how carefully she sipped it, it would be gone far too soon. However, that wasn't the biggest worry. Sooner or later, the air down here was going to run out.

 _Don't think that,_ she told herself. _Do not think that. You are going to get out of here. You'll see Kenzie and Mac again. Danny was right. Mac'll find you, just like he found Kenzie._

Her thoughts kept coming back to Claire. She'd been friends with Mac's wife. Claire's death had hit her hard, not as hard as Mac of course, but their shared grief had cemented their already strong friendship. That was when she'd started looking after him, since he'd stopped looking after himself. She wondered if Claire had experienced anything like this, sitting surrounded by rubble, waiting and knowing that there was a very real chance she wasn't going to get out of there alive. They'd never found her body, so they had no idea how or when she'd died. Her thoughts returned to Mac. How on earth would he cope with loosing someone almost the very same way he'd lost Claire? A lump formed in her throat. She tried to force it, and the thought that she was going to die there, away.

There was one thing she was grateful for: at least she had taken the plunge and told Mac that he was Kenzie's father. That way, if she didn't make it out of that subway tunnel, Kenzie and Mac would have each other. Stella blinked, realising that she'd started crying. She brushed the tears away quickly. Out of habit she pulled out her phone to check for signal. Nothing. If only there was a bar of signal, just enough to send a text to tell Mac where she was, that she was okay and so was Danny. And most of all, that she loved him.

Suddenly Danny was elbowing her in the side, bringing her out of her reverie.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Listen," he instructed. Her eyebrows creasing in concentration, listening carefully. Most of the passengers were silent, only a few were talking in quiet murmurs. Occasionally they'd heard other subway trains rattling past in nearby tunnels, but that was it. So far underground, they were ensconced away from the city above. Only now there was a new sound, and unlike the soft murmurs or the rattling of the trains nearby, this one was not comforting. The ominous creak, coupled with the ever increasing trickle of pebbles on the carriage roof, was far from comforting. Stella met Danny's eyes in alarm.

"Danny," she muttered. "You don't think.."

"I do," he nodded. "I think there's a very good chance this tunnel's going to cave in again."

XOXOXOX

Mac had long ago given up trying to work. He was simply sitting watching his daughter. When Kenzie had woken up, she'd started drawing. She loved drawing. Mac couldn't help but pick out the similarities between Kenzie and Stella. Her curls, her cheekbones, her smile – not that she was smiling much today.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Wrestling it from his pocket he stared at the screen: Voicemail. Pressing listen he lifted the phone to his ear.

"Hey Mac, it's me. Listen, my car's broken down. I called the garage and they've taken it away so I'm gonna take the subway. Can you pick up Kenzie and I'll meet you at the lab? See you soon."

When the message ended, Mac realised he'd been holding his breath. He had to remind himself to breath. Quickly he checked when Stella had left the message. The day before, fifteen minutes after she finished work. But the notification hadn't appeared until now. Suddenly the TV caught his attention. Stepping out of his office so Kenzie couldn't hear, he called Jo.

"Jo. I know where Stella is. She's in that subway car with Danny."


	4. Reunion

Reed opened the door of his apartment to find Mac, with Kenzie in his arms, waiting outside.

"Reed I need a favour," he said.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can you watch Kenzie? I wouldn't ask unless it was an emergency."

"Of course. Hey Kenzie," Reed said, taking his 'special sister' from Mac. Instantly she wrapped her arms around his neck, burrowing her face into his neck.

"Hi Reed," she whispered.

"What's wrong?" he asked Mac. 

"You know the subway collapse? Stella's down there. I'm going to find her."

"Daddy," Kenzie called, reaching out towards him. "Where's mom? I want mom."

"I know sweetheart. I'm going to get her. You stay with Reed and I promise, I'll bring your mom back with me, okay?" Mac said. Pressing a kiss into her hair, he left.

XOXOXOX

"Hey," Jo called as Mac jogged up to her. "Looks like there was another collapse last night. We don't know how many people are down there or what kind of state they're in. From the surveillance cameras at the previous stops, we've estimated there's at least a hundred and fifty people onboard."

"Any sign of Danny or Stella?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I'd ask you if you're sure you want to do this, but I have a feeling I'd be wasting my breath," Jo said as Mac pulled on an overall. He gave her a look. "Thought so. They managed to clear a gap in the rubble about fifteen minutes ago," she said. She handed him a hard hat. "Be careful."

"You coming too?" he asked as Lindsay picked up a hard hat of her own.

"Danny's down there," she replied, as though it was obvious. Which to Mac, it was. They were in the same boat; both with the person they loved missing, both with children waiting at home. Of course they were both going down.

"Let's go."

They followed a group of firefighters and paramedics down the maintenance stairs to the subway tunnel. The only light came from their headlamps. Mac guessed the power lines must have been damaged by the tunnel collapse.

"Have they found out what cause the collapse?" he asked one of the fire fighters.

"Yeah, there was a construction site. Turns out, the workers are a real bunch of cowboys. They dug too deep. With the vibrations from the trains and the builders pneumatics drills, it triggered the collapse."

"Flack and Lovato went to arrest the workers," Lindsay added.

"Here we go," the firefighter said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Ground zero, so to speak."

Mac tried to block the images that his words triggered. He did not want to think about that day, not here, not now. Because he couldn't loose Stella the way he'd lost Claire. As though she knew what he was thinking, Lindsay reached out to take his hand. They remained hand in hand until they reached the tunnel blockage.

XOXOXOX

Stella pulled her phone out, yet again, to check for signal just in case. Even though she knew the chances of getting phone signal down there was near impossible, she couldn't help feeling disappointed when she saw the words _No service_. Next to her, Danny had been scrolling through all the photos of Lucy and Noah for the past hour. When she glanced over, Stella noticed he'd stopped on a picture of Lindsay and both children grinning at the camera. Reaching over she took his free hand and squeezed it before leaning her head on his shoulder and tried to block out the memories of the screams of the passengers on the train during the rock fall the night before. For a good few minutes they had clearly thought they were going to die. Stella had thought so too.

"I can see the train," one of the fire fighters called. Mac's heart leapt, only to sink again as soon as he saw the first carriage. It had been destroyed by falling rubble.

"Stella?" he yelled.

Stella lifted her head from Danny's shoulder. She frowned. She could've sworn that...

"Stella?"

"Mac?" she yelled. This time she was certain she'd heard him.

Mac raced ahead of the group, certain that Lindsay would be right on his heels, until he reached the door of the middle carriage.

"Stella?"

Grabbing Danny's torch from him, she clambered over people and debris until she reached the door. Until the torch beam fell on his face, she couldn't bring herself to believe it was really him. Her throat constricted. She realised that despite everything she was getting out of there alive. She was going to see her daughter again. Mac pulled a crowbar from his belt and yanked the doors apart. Then to his relief Stella fell into his arms. They remained oblivious to the rest of the rescue team as they helped the other passengers out, and to Danny and Lindsay whose positions mimicked their own.

"Are you okay?" Mac asked checking her for injuries.

"I'm fine... I thought I'd never see you again," she admitted tearfully. Taking her head in his hands, he leaned forward and kissed her before drawing her into a hug.

XOXOXOX

"I don't want to go to hospital, I want to see my daughter!"

Mac smiled. Even just being back on the surface and holding her hand in his, he felt much calmer. Stella was alive. She was okay. Dehydrated, tired and hungry but otherwise fine. Well enough to be arguing with the paramedics anyway. Since he'd half carried her out of the tunnel, they'd stuck a drip into her. It was clearly having a good effect on her.

"I'm fine. I just want to go home with my daughter and my boyfriend."

He wasn't sure how he felt about being described as her 'boyfriend'. Not because he didn't want to be however. 'Boyfriend' seemed more like a label for someone a lot younger than he was. Although considering the other option was partner and as police officers they used it at work, he could see where she was coming from. He could think of one label he wouldn't mind using though.

While Stella argued with the paramedics, he turned to check on Danny. Like Stella, he'd been hooked up to a drip for dehydration. Lindsay was by his side, where she'd been ever since they were reunited. Mac gave a small smile. He had no doubt that unlike Stella, Danny would be going to the hospital, mainly because his wife would insist on it. Deciding to take pity on the poor paramedic locked in combat with Stella, he stepped in. After assuring him that under no circumstances would he leave her alone, Mac was allowed to take Stella home. With one very important stop on the way home.

"Mommy!" Kenzie cried, racing towards her.

"Hi baby," Stella replied, swooping her daughter up into her arms. "Oh I missed you so much," she whispered into Kenzie's unruly curls.

"Thank you," Mac said to Reed as mother and daughter re-united.

"It's fine," he shrugged. "She's not exactly difficult to look after."

"She adores you."

"I'm glad Stella's okay."

Reaching out, Mac squeezed Reed's shoulder. Then he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the rest of his family.


	5. Epilogue: To the Future

"Flowers. Should I be jealous?" Mac teased as Stella entered the apartment with a large bouquet.

"Very funny," she replied, dropping them into a vase before placing them on the dining table. "My third years bought me them."

"The same third years you were complaining about two weeks ago, saying that you couldn't believe they were adults because they were far too immature?"

"They have their moments. Where's Kenzie?"

"Danny and Lindsay's. She's having a sleepover with Lucy."

"Ah, so we've got the place to ourselves," she said. Since the subway collapse, she and Mac hadn't spent a night apart, at either her or his apartment. Stella had to admit, it was nice having each other to come home to. She would be quite happy to make the arrangement more permanent. "Which means..." she continued.

"No Disney movies and no restrictions on what we can eat," Mac finished.

"You read my mind," she grinned.

XOXOXOX

"It's too quiet, isn't it?" Stella said as they sat at the table after finishing dinner. Mac nodded. As always, Stella knew exactly what he was thinking. It was far too quiet without Kenzie around. Just like when he'd been recovering from injury the year before, spending the past few days living with Stella had Kenzie had been wonderful. He doubted he'd felt this happy since Claire died.

"Do you think we could call Danny and Lindsay and convince them to let Kenzie come home?" he asked. "We could take Lucy too. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

Stella laughed, leaning forward and kissing his cheek.

"I'll put these away," she said, picking up the dirty plates.

When she sat down again, her eyes were immediately drawn to something on the table. A pale blue box that came from the building she could identify from the moon sat open, and in it a white gold ring with a single perfect diamond.

 **XOXOXOX**

 **Thanks to everyone for reading. I'm not entirely happy with this one, but it's the best I could make it. Special thank you to lilymoonlight for reading this and giving me feedback before I posted it.**

 **Look out for the final story in the series, which will be appearing but not for a while. I have too many stories in my head at the moment and I'm stuck on it, so it's going to wait for a while.**

 **Thanks again to all followers and reviewers!**


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